Potsdam woman admits she falsely reported incident to police

MASSENA - A Potsdam woman who initially told police she had been the victim of a hit and run accident has been fined after admitting she had filed a false report with police.

Massena Village Justice Eric J. Gustafson fined Danielle M. Cressey, 27, of 1 Debra Drive, Apt. F204, Potsdam, $50 and a $205 surcharge for an attempted falsely reporting an incident conviction. She was also placed under a one-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay a $50 surcharge to submit a DNA sample to the state database.

Cressey told police her vehicle had been struck when she was parked in front of 76 Perkins Road, but the police investigation and witness statements determined she had actually struck a parked vehicle on Wilson Avenue a few hours earlier. Witnesses told police Cressey hadnt stopped after striking the vehicle because she had been drinking before the incident.

In other recent court action before Judge Gustafson:

■ Karl J. Baile, 23, of 277 Trippany Road, Massena, was placed under probation supervision for three years and fined $500 and a $400 surcharge for a driving while intoxicated conviction. He was also ordered to pay a $50 fee to submit a sample of his DNA to the state database, and his operating privileges were revoked for one year.

Village police had charged Baile with third-degree unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and aggravated driving while intoxicated at 3:31 a.m. March 17 in the Andrews Street parking lot.

Faith Deshane reported to police at 3:11 a.m. that her vehicle, a 2001 Dodge Caravan, had been stolen from the McDonalds parking lot, South Main Street. The vehicle was located a short time later in the parking lot behind the Delmar, and Baile was in the vehicle next to it. He reportedly dropped a second set of keys when he exited the vehicle.

He later acknowledged he had gone to McDonalds earlier with some girls he knew. Ms. Deshane told police Baile was the only person left in her vehicle when she went into McDonalds.

He reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.21 percent. A DWI is elevated to aggravated DWI when the blood alcohol content is 0.18 percent of higher.

■ Julie A. Chapman, 47, of 9237 state Route 56, Massena, pleaded guilty to a driving while intoxicated count. The court directed the probation department to conduct a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for May 27.

Village police had charged Chapman with aggravated driving while intoxicated and ticketed her for failure to keep right at 12:58 a.m. Nov. 17 following a traffic stop on East Orvis Street. She reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.22 percent.

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